I finished reading Ursula LeGuin's "The Telling" last night. I am always fascinated by her writing. It always strikes me as so . . . peaceful. She writes of intellectual and emotional struggles much more than external ones. She always works from a standpoint of racial, cultural, and sexual equality (Not that everyone in her books is always treated equally by their society but that they are all treated as worthwhile people in their own right by the author) So much of what she does is completely the opposite of what modern "fantasy" has become. Quite the opposite of what I write myself actually. It's always wonderful to visit one of her worlds and to read through her soft prose. It's very much like watching a master carpenter carving a chest. You can sense the immense skill she has in her craft and feel the calmness it brings to her. I am usually more of an action kinda guy but something about LeGuin speaks to me; like walking through a quiet forest at sunrise with the dew dripping off the leaves as far off birds begin calling to each other through soft mists rising off the lake shore. Yea. Just like that.
I got some work done on Godslayer last eve (not enough of course, but some!) and I'll be getting more done tonight. Work is still pushing hard at me, though not nearly as bad as the last few weeks. Soon (I hope!) soon, I will be free once more to romp the hills of creation hand-in-hand with my Muse.
Back to exercising every day (I feel SO much better!) I think I shall never be a threat to the Tony Little's of the world but I am satisfied with the bit I do to keep the body from turning to mush.
I love Internet radio stations! Right now I'm listening to LiveIreland which is playing some great traditional Celtic tunes done by new (and really talented) bands. Great stuff!
I finally got caught up on my Crits for the ladies over at FM. I felt particularly bad about holding them up. We've been moving through each others work pretty quick (at least a chapter/week each) and I was a no-show for the last two. They were very understanding about it but my daddy taught me to never keep a lady waiting (Jebus help you if it's two!)
Last thing - a minor annoyance here: did anyone else see President Bush's response to Amnesty Internationals condemnation of the U.S. treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? No, this isn't a political rant, just one about stupidity and embarrasment. Our brilliant leader said that the info in the report came from:
" . . .people who hate America, people that have been trained in some instances to disassemble, that means not tell the truth. So it was an absurd report."
dis·as·sem·ble (dĭs'ə-sĕm'bəl) v., -bled, -bling, -bles.
v.tr.
To take apart: disassemble a toaster.v.intr.
To come apart: The unit disassembles easily.
To break up in random fashion: The spectators began to disassemble.
I'm sorry, but it's very embarrasing when the leader of our nation can barely speak our language. It is made so much worse when he offers a definition of a word he used to a room full of well educated jouranlists . . . and he's fucking wrong! (Of course, I find it even WORSE that not one journalist anywhere has pointed out this mistake!) I believe the word ol' Dubbya wanted was:
dis·sem·ble (dĭ-sĕm'bəl) v., -bled, -bling, -bles.
v.tr.
To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. See synonyms at disguise.
To make a false show of; feign.v.intr.
To disguise or conceal one's real nature, motives, or feelings behind a false appearance.
Nice going, Mr. President, you're making us all so proud!
Ah well, a petty thing I admit, but it was enough to set me screaming (really, I did!) out loud at the television when I first saw the clip last night. BTW: In case you think I misheard, here's MSNBC's quote from his answer. Quite a difference, going from LeGuin to G.W., huh?
Okay, off to work on GS now.
Later!
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